A Squadron B-25 "Mitchell" that was used for "Fat Cat" missions.
Squadron pilots and crews would fly to Australia and load these planes full
of supplies (to include liquor) and fly them back, most of the times
overweight, and "supply" the bases with much needed items. Warner Britton
told a story of actually bringing so many crates of liquor back that the
plane was barely able to get airborne and flew only a few hundred feet over
the sea all the way back to its base. Some of the crew actually had to sit
on the crates (not very safe) and during takeoff, one crate shifted, fell,
and shattered the liquor bottles. He said had they gotten caught the whole
plane smelled of whiskey and they would have surely been in trouble.
(Courtesy Guy Allbright)
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